Aaron Gottschalk, Ph.D. Email and Phone Number

-Oversight of all technical and research aspects as they relate to NCBGG while continuing supervision of staff and clinical testing processes.-Leading NYBC operations of the Blood transfusion Genomics Consortium (www.BGC.io) clinical trial partnering with ThermoFisher to develop an FDA licensed Axiom Array capable of universal blood genotyping of donors and patients.-Chair monthly meetings of the BGC-R committee to maintain congruity across international labs involved in clinical trial.-Directing the clinical typing of 1,500 donors and patients enrolled in the REDS IV program (https://redsivp.com)

-Founding member of the National Center for Blood Group Genomics (NCBGG), a one-of-a-kind lab dedicated to furthering the use of genomics to provide precisely matched blood types to patients.-Implemented and validated core molecular and genomics processes providing extended blood antigen typing for donor centers and patients within the KC metropolitan area.-Attained CLIA certification and AABB accreditation with June of 2017, followed by NY and CA state licensure in June of 2018.-Developed business relationships to onboard some of the largest blood donor systems in the US.-Launched Immulink LIS interface in May 2018 to directly route donor genotypes to clientsnationwide – ushering in high throughput genomics testing for client donor centers nationwide.-Supervised growing staff while overseeing results reporting, validation of equipment, assayproficiency, SOP development, and quality control of testing reagents and equipment.-Developed, validated, and implemented NYBCe MassArray Rare and Uncommon Antigen Panelfor high-throughput testing of enterprise and client donors.-Presented research findings at national meetings and educational symposia

My primary responsibility was to manage research projects and mentor junior colleagues toward groundbreaking research in the fields of epigenetics, chromatin biology, and transcriptional regulation, with the expressed goal of publishing both primary and collaborative research results. During my tenure as a postdoctoral research associate, I established the first transgenic Amplified in Liver Cancer 1 (ALC1) knockout mouse line to study the ALC1 oncogene in DNA damage and liver cancer pathogenesis. To further these lines of study, I mastered and taught junior colleagues novel next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics approaches in the laboratory (manuscripts in preparation). Concurrent to my bioinformatics studies, I collaborated with junior colleagues on structure-function studies of ALC1 to investigate enzymology and propose models of allosteric regulation (manuscript in preparation). I also developed and optimized novel biochemical assays to rigorously define how ALC1 forms an active complex with Parp1 and chromatin (published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry). My duties outside of managing multiple projects included participation in authoring a successful National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant leading to more than $1.0 million in research funding and serving as a subject matter expert for external peer review of manuscripts for multiple journals.

During my tenure as a doctoral research scientist, I discovered the molecular function of a previously uncharacterized oncogene ALC1 (published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; manuscript cited more than 200 times). This is a fairly significant finding, as ALC1 may be implicated in pathogenesis of up to 50% of hepatocellular carcinoma cases. I also collaborated to define the human Ino80 chromatin-remodeling complex and its associated enzymatic activities (published in Nature Structure and Molecular Biology and Journal of Biological Chemistry). As a result of my groundbreaking research, I was invited to present my primary research (both orally and in poster form) at many local and national conferences. In addition to presenting my primary work, I authored perspective, review, and methodology articles as an expert in chromatin biology and epigenetics. On top of my laboratory duties, I represented graduate students on the Stowers Institute Crossroads Committee (a career development program for students and postdoctoral research associates), and coordinated the 1st annual Stowers Institute Young Investigators Research Day (a mini-conference with invited external speakers and a forum for young investigators to present their work).

While working as a Research Associate at Kansas State University, I applied epidemiological approaches to clarify the pathways and threats of classical swine fever in the United States, and compiled official written and digital reports on the research findings for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

During my tenure as a Masters Research Scientist I characterized novel mechanisms used by yeast phosphate transporters in response to environmental cues. Moreover, I learned elementary Swedish, and foreign diplomacy skills, while creating a vast international network of friends and colleagues.